title: Antagonism of the acute pharmacological actions of morphine by panax ginseng extract.
abstract: 1. The effects of intraperitoneal administration of a standard extract of Panax ginseng alone and in combination with morphine were determined in male Sprague-Dawley rats. 2. Ginseng extract at 200 mg/kg produced analgesia and hypothermia. These effects of ginseng were not reversed by naltrexone. 3. A dose of morphine (8 mg/kg) produced analgesia and hyperthermia. The analgesic response to morphine was antagonized by 25 and 50 mg/kg doses of ginseng but not by 12.5, 100 and 200 mg/kg doses. 4. Morphine-induced hyperthermia was antagonized by 12.5-200 mg/kg doses of ginseng. 5. Administration of morphine (50 mg/kg) produced cataleptic effect which was antagonized by 25 mg/kg of ginseng. 6. The results suggest that ginseng extract at high doses produces analgesia and hypothermia in the rat by a non-opiate mechanism, and antagonizes the acute pharmacological effects of morphine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacodynamics, University of Illinois, Chicago 60612.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ramarao
authors.forename: H N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Bhargava
mesh_terms: D000698:Analgesia; D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000187:drug effects*; D003106:Colon / Q000502:physiology*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D009020:Morphine / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000494:pharmacology; D009271:Naltrexone / Q000494:pharmacology; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000187:drug effects*; D005894:Panax; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D009271:Naltrexone; D009020:Morphine